X-Rite, Incorporated (NASDAQ: XRIT) and Pantone LLC, today
unveiled PantoneLIVE™, a cloud-based color service that provides
instant access to essential brand color standards. PantoneLIVE is
the first service under the Pantone Digital Business Unit, a newly
created division of X-Rite that is the byproduct of Pantone’s
expertise as the world’s color authority and X-Rite’s color science
and technology leadership.
From chocolates and champagne to soda and stilettos, the past
year has been wrought with cases of counterfeiting, deception and
consumer confusion – all tied to the ubiquitous colors that
uniquely identify brands. Cadbury and Veuve Clicquot were involved
in high-profile legal battles to own their brand colors, while
Christian Louboutin fought to trademark its signature red soles.
With color so critically tied to brand identity, inconsistent brand
color can lead to a lack of consumer confidence and lost sales.
In a recent survey conducted by the Pantone Color Institute*,
more than 70 percent of creatives noted that brand color
definitions, accuracy and consistency in creating products or
packaging are important to their business, while 42 percent
indicated that color-related challenges have a negative impact on
their company. “Nearly 50 years ago, Pantone brought consistency
and a common language to an industry that lacked standardization.
Historically an analog process, reliant on centuries’ old color
alchemy, printing and production have advanced with technology in
the digital age,” said Ron Potesky, senior vice president and
general manager of Pantone. “PantoneLIVE digitizes the process,
taking it from visual and subjective to consistent and repeatable –
significantly reducing production timelines and improving the
bottom line.”
“PantoneLIVE represents a transformational change in color
management for brand owners across their entire supply chain,”
explained Tom Vacchiano, president and CEO of X-Rite. “Our own Dr.
Sonia Megert, whose vision for the digital supply chain led to the
development of PantoneLIVE, will head the new Pantone Digital
Business Unit.”
“Globally consistent color standards are essential to brand
identity. With supply chains made up of hundreds of different
facilities scattered around the world, corporations struggle to
control and maintain color consistency,” said Dr. Megert.
“PantoneLIVE is a dynamic ecosystem, open to all supply chain
participants, which delivers consistent color across the entire
packaging workflow – from design concept to retail store
shelves.”
Brand color standards are the principal component of PantoneLIVE
and are derived from real ink on real substrates using real
printing processes. This allows brand owners to predict how
corporate spot colors will reproduce on a wide variety of
substrates including brown corrugated, clear film and white
polypropylene. A brand’s color assets, analogous to a brand’s color
DNA, are managed and maintained in a secure cloud-based data
repository to ensure accurate color communication – to any
supplier, around the world.
“The benefits of using PantoneLIVE are clear,” says Nigel
Dickie, director of corporate and government affairs for Heinz (see
Beanz Meanz Heinz and Knowing about Color case study). “The digital
tools gave us unprecedented control and consistency from different
print processes and materials. Across all of our packaging formats
we saw a reduction in color variance of 50 percent and saved time
by establishing one color target that can be applied to all our
Heinz Beanz designs. The results with our Beanz packaging have
been so remarkable that we plan to extend PantoneLIVE to additional
product lines, including Heinz soups and Spaghetti Hoops.”
While accurate color is important to the brand identity of
consumer packaged goods, protecting brand integrity in the
pharmaceutical industry is crucial as counterfeit drugs put the
health of consumers at risk. Chesapeake (see Accurate Brand Colors
Help Stem Drug Counterfeiting case study), a global producer of
consumer packaging for many of the world’s leading pharmaceutical
companies, turned to PantoneLIVE to increase consistency in its
customers’ packaging. When it comes to pharmaceuticals and
over-the-counter medications, even the slightest variation in
packaging color can make a product suspect and the brand vulnerable
to counterfeiting.
On one job, for example, Chesapeake was able to reduce color
variation by 84 percent and improve process controls, which led to
zero rejections from the print run and 100 percent client approval.
PantoneLIVE is creating another positive impact on Chesapeake’s
business. The company previously stocked as many as 3,000 different
inks in its Leicester, U.K. plant and now stores only 537 without
reducing color choices.
PantoneLIVE is connected to a large portfolio of software,
containing real-world color data for hundreds of thousands of
colors, and is supported by the latest color measurement
technology. This is combined with professional services including
workflow and color rationalization audits, and customized operating
procedures from Pantone and X-Rite. Custom and bespoke spectral
data, as well as metadata, are used to digitize brand colors.
Digitized palettes are then expanded to create independent color
standards to allow for accurate color reproduction on a variety of
substrates.
Brand color data, equivalent to a digital color swatch, is
stored in a secure, cloud-based portal that lets brand owners and
other approved members of the supply chain manage digital rights
and facilitate color communication across all materials in the
production process. This centralized color communication process
promotes consistency and helps achieve speed to market efficiencies
from initial design to final production. The portal also provides
direction to suppliers to meet brand requirements related to color
quality.
Industry Support
While users of any manufacturer’s ink will be able to take
advantage of PantoneLIVE, Sun Chemical (see Sun Chemical press
release) is the preferred ink partner. Esko (see Esko press
release), a global supplier of integrated solutions for packaging,
sign and display finishing, commercial printing and professional
publishing, is also a preferred partner supporting PantoneLIVE.
Both companies worked closely with Pantone and X-Rite to develop
PantoneLIVE. Sun Chemical’s technology and color data are the
foundations for PantoneLIVE, and this technology is integrated into
Esko’s solutions.
In addition, Windm�ller & H�lscher, a leading supplier of
flexographic central impression and rotogravure printing presses,
is recognized as the PantoneLIVE technology partner, serving the
flexible packaging industry. In this unique capacity, Windm�ller
& H�lscher will extend the capability of their EASY COL
on-press color matching solution to incorporate access to the
PantoneLIVE ecosystem, thereby allowing converters to reduce press
set-up times and in turn assure the quality of important brand
colors on press.
Pantone and X-Rite are continuing to work with leading vendors
to integrate and enhance their solutions with PantoneLIVE. This
approach will offer customers real value in the color management
and color communications process, while leaving much of their
current investments in place.
Pricing and Availability
Access to the PantoneLIVE database starts at $99 USD (£63 GBP,
€76 EUR) annually for a designer, $1,150 USD (£730 GBP, €885 EUR)
annually for preproduction and from $2,000 USD (£1,275 GBP,
€1,540 EUR) to $2,650 USD (£1,690 GBP, €2,040 EUR) annually for
production. A color audit for a brand owner starts at $4,500 USD
(£2,870 GBP, €3,460 EUR). Additional fees apply depending on
services and scope required. PantoneLIVE solutions will be
available June 15. For more information, please see
www.pantone.com/live.
About X-Rite
X-Rite, Incorporated, is the global leader in color science and
technology. The company, which now includes color industry leader
Pantone, develops, manufactures, markets and supports innovative
color solutions through measurement systems, software, color
standards and services. X-Rite’s expertise in inspiring, selecting,
measuring, formulating, communicating and matching color helps
users get color right the first time and every time, which
translates to better quality and reduced costs. X-Rite serves a
range of industries, including printing, packaging, photography,
graphic design, video, automotive, paints, plastics, textiles,
dental and medical. For further information, please visit
www.xrite.com.
About Pantone
Pantone LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Rite, Incorporated,
has been the world’s color authority for nearly 50 years, providing
design professionals with products and services for the colorful
exploration and expression of creativity. Always a source for color
inspiration, Pantone also offers paint and designer-inspired
products and services for consumers. More information is available
at www.pantone.com.
PANTONE®…The color of ideasSM.
* Custom research conducted by Pantone; survey of 100 creative
professionals in the U.S. involved in the design and production of
product packaging; online survey fielded December 15 – 19, 2011
PANTONE® and other Pantone trademarks are the property of
Pantone LLC. © 2012. All rights reserved.
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